Is Your Smartwatch More Than Just an Accessory? The Future of Wearable Technology

A smartwatch is a smartphone packed into the form of a wristwatch. That is the most basic definition that I can come up with. Take a wristwatch and put in it a mobile operating system, mobile phone capability, media playback and more, and you have a smartwatch. Or at least, that is what it should be.

I think that a smartwatch is a great idea. I dislike having to hold anything large while out and about. I hate carrying laptops, netbooks and even tablets on me, unless I absolutely have to. They are a burden. I travel ultra lite. You can begin to see why the idea of a smartwatch appeals to me big time. I don’t even have to hold or carry it. Dressing up in the morning, I wear it for the day and forget about it. Chances of forgetting it somewhere? Unless I am going for a swim, zero. Chances of a smartwatch falling down and getting damaged? Unless I get enrolled a in the secret service as a special agent, zero.

But if you have followed the news about smartwatches, you are aware that the ones being pushed lack mobile phone capabilities. You actually have to pair them via Bluetooth to a phone to be able to make call on them. Dóh! They are mere Bluetooth accessories? Have I been dreaming then? Maybe not. The BURG SmartWatch is the world’s first smartwatch with a built-in SIM card slot which allows you to use it as an independent phone. The first OS Android 4.0 models are now in production and can do everything my smartphone can. Now, that is a true smartwatch.

Here is its brief specs sheet:

– 1.54-inch 240×240 pixel display
– Android 4.0 OS
– SIM card slot
– telephone
– messaging
– multimedia
– Micro SD u[p to 32GB
– WIFI, Bluetooth 3.0, GPS
– 2.0 mega pixel camera
– attachable headset
– recorder

Any smartwatch that is just an accessory to a smartphone does not qualify in my books. Apple’s upcoming iWatch and Samsung’s Gear don’t cut it for me. I’d rather carry my smartphone and wear a Bluetooth headset than have the bulkier combination of smartphone and smartwatch. As far as I am concerned, both of the smartwatches being pushed by Apple and Samsung are ordinary watches that are dependent on a smartphone. I am not sure how smart that makes them.

Till I can get my hands on a proper smartwatch as described in this article, no thanks.

Mister Mobility

Way back from the days of EPOC, Symbian, Palm, PocketPC/Windows Mobile, BlackBerry/BB10, webOS, Windows Phone, Firefox, Ubuntu Touch, to Android, iOS, and KaiOS operating systems, founder of MobilityArena, Mister Mobility, has owned a few hundred smartphones and tablets, and counting.